USCIS has indicated that it intends to implement a $10 electronic registration fee for H-1B cap-subject petitions for the FY 2021 H-1B filings. The FY2021 H-1B applications would be submitted in April 2020. Starting December 2, 2019, the Premium Processing fee for Form I-129 (O-1,H-1B and other nonimmigrant visas) and for Form I-1-140 Immigrant visa […]
October 2019 updates
We are pleased to report that all the H-1B’s we submitted this year have been approved, including a tough RFE for Chinese Market Research Analyst, Shaojun Nie. Shaojun was on OPT, having graduated with an MBA in marketing from the Frank G. Zarb School of Business at Hofstra University. Her prospective H-1B employer was a residential real estate firm. This is what Shaojun wrote: “Jane was the attorney assisting […]
April 2019 Updates
O-1 Visa Processing Processing times for all visa applications are experiencing substantial delays hence more people are opting to use the expedite Premium Processing service, where a response is guaranteed in 15 days. Despite the delays, we recently had an O-1A approved in three weeks using standard processing for Researcher/Consultant, Dr. Savita Bailur. The case […]
RFE success
We are happy to report that the O-1 visa for Spanish architect, Nuria Heras Diez, was approved on February 15, 2019. We received a harsh RFE for Nuria’s original application and we responded on December 30, 2018. We are also thrilled that our EB-1 Extraordinary Ability Green Card for Australian multidisciplinary artist, Kate Grokhovsky, was […]
February 2019 Update
O-1 Visa Processing Due to intense scrutiny of the O-1 classification and an apparent focus on high income, we have been experiencing higher rates of Requests for Evidence than usual for the O-1 classification. Several O-1B three year renewals received RFE’s, including those for artists and designers who have already been in O-1 status for […]
November 2018 Updates
We continue to successfully process Green Card applications in the National Interest Waiver category, especially self-petitions for designers and artists. These applications are usually approved in 4-6 months which makes them an attractive option. Most of the cases we file are for our O-1 clients. Recent approvals include Japanese stage manager and production coordinator, […]
USCIS Completes the H-1B Cap Random Selection Process for FY 2019
The Immigration Service announced today that it has randomly selected enough H-1B petitions to meet the congressionally mandated cap and the U.S. advanced degree exemption, also known as the master’s cap, for FY2019. They received 190,098 petitions during the filing period, including petitions filed for the advanced degree exemption (compared to the 199,000 H-1B petitions […]
February 2018 Updates
We would like to start by reminding clients that their work often appears online and consulates invariably Google your name when you apply for visas. Sometimes, they might see you have been working in the US without authorization, a particular problem for high-profile photographers, make-up artists, and others who receive credits online for their work. […]
December 2017 Updates
January 2018 We filed 108 O-1 cases in 2017. 100 have been approved and 8 are still in process. Most cases have been approved within three to four weeks using standard processing despite the fact that USCIS websites shows 90-120 days for O-1 cases. Due to cases being given stricter scrutiny, we recommend careful […]
September 2017 Updates
We continue to receive swift O-1 Approvals. As of September 14, 2017, we have received 78 O-1 approvals this year. Recent approvals include an O-1 for Korean product designer, Huira Koo, who received a BFA in Fine Arts from Parsons School of Design in New York and did a change of status from F (OPT) […]